We hope you are well! We hope you are as excited as we are about our upcoming season, and can't wait to see many faces at the workshops! if you haven't already, be sure to check them out HERE.
Sharing Conversations and Opportunities
- COVEN; Staging Witchcraft Workshop
Directors George Nichols and Hannah de Ville, along with Directory Member writer Abi Zakarian would be interested in running a workshop with MENA artists exploring early modern drama, the history of witchcraft and what the idea of a witch means to us today.
The session will focus on two seventeenth-century witch plays and the issues they raise to do with power, persecution, gender and perceptions of witchcraft in different cultures. You can expect to get familiar with some weird and wonderful text and some troubling history. You'll also consider practical staging questions:
How can we depict magic on stage?
If this sounds of interest to you please contact: jmmanand@gmail.com
- Writer and Director Ja‘far ‘Abd al-Hamid's latest short film
“Tabbouleh & Pie” is now streaming:
'Produced by Arij Al-Soltan, and starring Ahlam Arab, Paul Ridley and Charlie Carter, “Tabbouleh & Pie” introduces us to Richard, a retired insurance manager in London. Richard’s daily routine is interrupted by the arrival of a new neighbour, Fatin, a stage director from Iraq.
On October 2nd, the short will also screen at the Independent Iraqi Film Festival, a virtual festival with free access from anywhere in the world.
Vice i-D magazine’s article about this year’s festival:
https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/4av8zb/iraqi-cinema-film-festival'
Check it out on Habibi Collective’s platform: Shashamovies.com
- We are delighted to see that Rumi Musical will have its world premiere at the London Coliseum, showcasing a diverse company of MENA+ and South Asian Talent.
Be sure to grab your tickets here: https://londoncoliseum.org/whats-on/rumi-the-musical/
- Aria Entertainment are looking for a Musical Director for their BROKEN WINGS production at Charing Cross Theatre.
The playing dates are between Friday 21st January 2022 to Saturday 5th March 2022, with a rehearsal period between Monday 29th December 2021 and Thursday 13th January 2022.
'Based on the 1912 novel by the iconic Kahlil Gibran, Broken Wings is written by Nadim Naaman and Dana Al Fardan, with Orchestrations by Joe Davison. New York City, 1923. An ageing Gibran narrates from his cold studio. Through poetry and music, he transports us back two decades to turn-of-the-century Beirut, where he falls deeply in love with Selma. Gibran and Selma fight to reconcile their love for one another, whilst navigating the traditions and expectations that society lays before them.'
To apply contact: Ollie@aria-entertainment.com
- Disney’s The Lion King are currently recruiting for a Deputy Stage Manager to join the backstage team at the Lyceum Theatre:
'The Deputy Stage Manager is paramount in preparing, supporting and delivering rehearsals and performances. The Deputy Stage Manager will be on the book to call performances and will support and assist the Stage Management Team in all aspects of production to ensure, the safe, smooth, and efficient running of the production.
For more information or to apply please contact recruitment@disneytheatrical.co.uk
Please include a covering letter with your CV.
Closing date for applications 16 September 2021'
- Applications are open for Breaking The Glass Ceiling 2021.
If you have 5+ years in the screen industries and want coaching, training and networking with industry figures then this ones for you!
For more info and to apply:
https://filmlondon.org.uk/the-equal-access-network/ean-initiatives/breaking-the-glass-ceiling
- Liam Mclaughlin productions are currently looking to fill some paid roles for a very exciting UK tour this Autumn:
- Stage Manager (with clean UK driving license)
- Lighting Designer
- Sound Designer
Please email liam@lmproductions.co.uk for more info.
- Free rehearsal space is being offered by Nouveau Riche.
Applications are open for Black and Global Majority artists:
https://www.nvrch.com/studionouveau
Directory Shoutouts!
Part of our Directory and have a show/project coming up? Let us know so we can shout about it in the next mailout! In the meantime, check out the following shows featuring our wonderful Directory members:
- Directory member JASMINE NAZIHA JONES has been working on an ACE funded R&D play about her Arab/British heritage.
'Baghdaddy' was written in response to A History of Water In The Middle East by Directory Member SABRINA MAHFOUZ.
Part of the work has been to produce a trailer for the script, which features Jasmine and several other MENA Artists and Directory Members: LANNA JOFFERY, JEN VARDA, ATILLA AKINCI, as well as illustrations form British/Iraqi artist LYDIA DENNO.
THIS is definitely one to watch! Cath the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/603870644
- Double Directory Shoutout! Directory member AARON KILERCIOGLU'S latest show For A Palestinian which is co-written and performed with Directory member BILAL HASNA is premiering at the Camden People’s Theatre on the 22nd of September:
‘How do you translate this feeling?’
Bilal has always been obsessed with love stories. In this one-person show, he tells you his favourite – the true story of Palestinian poet and translator Wa’el Zuaiter. Join Bilal as he ventures through the orange groves of Jaffa, the piazzas in Rome, and the shisha bars of Edgware Road, piecing together this untold story, and asking what it means to be a Palestinian in the West.
Half the proceeds of the show are going to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Be sure to grab your tickets here: https://www.cptheatre.co.uk/production/for-a-palestinian/
- Catch Directory member DANA HAQJOO in ‘The Boy With Two Hearts’ at The Wales Millennium Centre. An entirely MENA+ cast bringing to life this incredibly important true story, this is definitely one to watch!
Find tickets here: https://www.wmc.org.uk/en/whats-on/2021/the-boy-with-two-hearts
- Interabang Productions’ latest short film, ‘Said the Dove to the Olive Tree’ starring Directory member AMIRA AL SHANTI is screening online now:
“Our film is a love letter to Palestine, chronicling the unique experiences of a Palestinian diaspora in Scotland.
Filmed across four days and five different Scottish Council areas, Said The Dove To The Olive Tree is a 12-minute film showcasing the complex feelings and identity of Scottish Palestinian actor/writer Amira Al Shanti. The film captures the intricate balance between the nostalgic romanticism of a homeland she cannot return to, and the bleak and dangerous reality of the oppression of Palestinians.
To reach as many people as possible we are asking all those who see the film to LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE the film.”
Check it out here:
https://fb.watch/7Lq3IZ80VR/
English and Arabic Subtitles available on YouTube here:
https://youtu.be/nF-Pk34HNq8
And that’s everything! For the new members, mailout is usually sent on a fortnightly basis. Please keep sharing and sending me any of your wonderful work or opportunities you want included in the next mailout to this email. Now more than ever lets keep circulating our brilliant stories; whether its past work, articles, videos, or something you think the membership may find interesting, please do drop me an email! Please continue to sign up to our directory, and share our community with your friends in the industry!
Have a great week,
Jessie x
MENA ARTS UK
If you can, please considering support us on our journey. No amount is too small, and please help us by sharing with your networks! Link to donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/mena-arts-uk?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet
Our position on endorsement.
Our main areas of work is to help connect the creative industries with UK MENA+ talent, so we will always share castings, job opportunities, or marketing information. We will track these projects in the hope that they are a great example of how MENA+ talent is used. But by sharing this information, it should not be seen as an endorsement of the project.
We will call out work that is appropriating a MENA+ narrative and does not have MENA+ talent at the heart of the creative process; and we will always champion, front and centre, work that is made for and by MENA+ talent.
MENA ARTS UK
